While the rest of the world worries about Y2K, British Airways predicts trouble-free flights on December 31, 1999. Fears have arisen over the change in date from 90-something to 00 -- which many computers cannot recognise without major re-programming, leading to worries over computers crashing on around January 1, 2000. But the airline recently announced that it is the only British carrier so far to confirm that it will be flying New Year's Eve. And independent assessors, appointed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, have given the carrier a blue rating (the highest level which can be awarded) for their state of "readiness'' for Y2K. "The airline expects to operate 75 percent of its long-haul network and around 50 percent of short-haul flights through the ten-day festive and millennium holiday,'' said spokesperson Sallie Singleton. "As on all other 364 nights of the year, there will be no UK or European services in the skies at the magical midnight hour, but some long flights will be at 35,000 feet as the new millennium dawns. "Concorde will be in the air New Year's Eve.'' And Ms Singleton said the company was confident that all will go well since it just completed a successful in-flight tests earlier this week on a UK flight bound for Nice, which was witnessed by a dozen journalists. "When Captain David Stevens and Senior First Officer Andy Bunn left Heathrow at 10.05 a.m., clocks on board showed 2300 on December 31, 1999 so the Millennium arrived an hour into the flight,'' explained Ms Singleton. "The aim was to reassure the public over the safety of British Airways' aircraft as they fly in the 21st century.'' Local manager Philip Troake added: "We have put in four years of meticulous planning to ensure we can fly our passengers to where they want to be to enjoy this once in a lifetime occasion. "We will be ready for the date change and as ever, will fly where and when it is safe to do so and where there's demand.'' There appears to be little concern regarding safety on the carrier since the airline has already sold 500,000 seats on its jets over the holiday period -- an increase of 150 percent over last year. "Currently, New York, Los Angeles and Johannesburg are among the more popular places to see in the New Year,'' Ms Singleton pointed out. "Local travellers who want to see all those destinations could take advantage of a round the world `explorer' ticket.'' For a starting price of $3,339, travellers can make six free stopovers over the millennium period. PHOTO In the air: British Airways will be flying safely in the year 2000, as will most US and Canadian airlines.